Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 1.pdf/103

Rh an assistant compiler of a gazetteer of his native district, 番禺縣志 P'an-yü hsien-chih, the compilation of which was supervised by Shih Ch'êng 史澄 and Ho Jo-yao 何若瑤. Early in 1858 the allied forces of Great Britain and France attacked Canton (see under ), destroying the Hsüeh-hai T'ang Academy and the bureau for the compilation of the P'an-yü hsien-chih. Ch'ên was thus forced to take refuge in a village in the outskirts of Canton where he remained about two years. Though the compilation of the P'an-yü hsien-chih was interrupted temporarily, it was resumed a few years later—the work being completed and printed in 1871 in 54 chüan. Upon his return to Canton in 1859 Ch'ên served (1860) as director in the Lung-hsi (龍溪) Academy at Tung-kuan, Kwangtung; and in 1864 as chief corrector in the reprinting of the Kwangtung t'ung-chih (see under ). In 1864 he, Tsou Po-ch'i (see under ), and Chao Ch'i-ying 趙齊嬰 were made map-editors of the 廣東圖說 Kwangtung t'u-shuo, a topographical work on Kwangtung with 106 maps whose description and exposition was entrusted to Kuei Wên-ts'an 桂文燦. The gazetteer was completed and printed in 1866–67 in 92 chüan.

In the autumn of 1867 an academy named Chü-p'o Ching-shê 菊坡精舍 was established at Canton by Fang Chün-i 方濬頤, then salt controller of Kwangtung, and Ch'ên Li was made its first director—a position which he held until his death. With financial support from the local authorities and with the editorial assistance of his pupils and friends, he reprinted the Wu-ying tien edition of the Shih-san ching chu-shu (see under ) in 120 ts'ê in 1871–72; and of the T'ung-chih t'ang ching-chieh (see under ) in 1872–73. He edited and printed in 1872–74 two collectanea of rare items: 古經解彙函 Ku ching-chieh hui-han and Hsiao-hsüeh (小學) hui-han. The former consists of 3 classics and 13 commentaries on classics written prior to the Sung period but not included in the Shih-san ching chu-shu. The latter contains 7 ancient lexicons and 7 philological works produced prior to the T'ang period. The printing blocks of these four collectanea were preserved in the Chü-p'o Ching-shê. During his term in he also served as map-editor of the 廣州府志 Kuang-chou fu-chih, a gazetteer of his native prefecture printed in 1879 in 163 chüan. He was chief compiler of the 香山縣志 Hsiangshan hsien-chih, printed in 22 chüan in 1880, a district gazetteer of Hsiang-shan (present Chung-shan), southeast of Canton. The compilation of the Kuang-chou fu-chih was supervised by Shih Ch'êng and Li Kuang-t'ing 李光廷, the latter being known as the editor and publisher of the 守約篇叢書 Shou-Yüeh p'ien ts'ung-shu (or 榕園叢書 Jung-yüan ts'ung-shu), a collectanea of 63 rare items printed about the years 1872–78.

Late in life Ch'ên Li compiled the fourth series of the Hsüeh-hai t'ang-chi (see under ) and the Chü-p'o ching-shê chi (集)—the latter a collection of writings by those who were connected with the Chu-p'o Ching-shê Academy. The former was completed by Chin Hsi-ling (see under ) and was printed in 1886 in 28 chüan; and the latter was completed by Liao T'ing-hsiang 廖廷相 and was printed in 1897 in 20 chüan. In 1881 Ch'ên Li and his fellow-townsman, Chu Tz'ŭ-ch'i 朱次琦, were honored, because of their scholarly contributions, with the title of fifth-rank officials, but within a year they both died. Chu Tz'ŭ-ch'i was a chin-shih of 1847 who served as magistrate of Hsiang-ling, Shansi (1852-53). During the latter half of his life Chu taught at his Canton residence which he named Li-shan Ts'ao-t'ang 禮山草堂. It is reported that he burnt, late in life, many of his own works. But fragments of them were gathered and edited by his pupil, Chien Ch'ao-liang 簡朝亮, and were published about 1897 in 10 chüan, together with a nien-p'u of Chu compiled by Chien, under the title 朱九江先生集 Chu Chiu-chiang Hsien-shêng chi.

Ch'ên Li may be regarded as the most brilliant among a group of Cantonese scholars who developed eclectic theories midway between Sung neo-Confucianism and the School of Han Learning (see under and ). He strongly opposed the narrow partisanship of contemporary scholarship and advocated a liberal, undogmatic point of view. With extensive knowledge and untiring energy he produced about 60 works—not including those already mentioned—of which about 25 have been printed. In the field of classical study he produced the 漢儒通義 Han-ju t'ung-i, 7 chüan, printed in 1858, a collection of fragments of writings on philosophical topics by scholars of the Han period. By this work he attempted to 91